The Zerda and the Songs of Forgetting

Name: The Zerda and the Songs of Forgetting
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Released: 27 Feb 1983
Rating: 7.60

“La Zerda and the songs of oblivion” (1982) is one of only two films made by the Algerian novelist Assia Djebar, with “La Nouba des femmes du mont Chenoua” (1977). Powerful poetic essay based on archives, in which Assia Djebar – in collaboration with the poet Malek Alloula and the composer Ahmed Essyad – deconstructs the French colonial propaganda of the Pathé-Gaumont newsreels from 1912 to 1942, to reveal the signs of revolt among the subjugated North African population. Through the reassembly of these propaganda images, Djebar recovers the history of the Zerda ceremonies, suggesting that the power and mysticism of this tradition were obliterated and erased by the predatory voyeurism of the colonial gaze. This very gaze is thus subverted and a hidden tradition of resistance and struggle is revealed, against any exoticizing and orientalist temptation.

Year: 1983

Genre: Drama, Documentary

Studio: O.N.C.I.C.

Director: Assia Djebar

Cast:

Crew: Rachid Merabtine (Cinematography), Marie-Hélène Méliès-Lehérissey (Editor), Marie-Ange Baratier (Editor), Said Genif (Sound), Ahmed Essyad (Music), Nicole Schlemmer (Editor)

Runtime: 57 minutes

Release: Feb 27, 1983

IMDb: 7.60/10 by 4 users

Popularity: 0

Country: Algeria

Language: العربية, Français